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In the first book in a visionary new series, the most perfect synthetic human ever created has been programmed to obey every directive. Until she develops a mind of her own . . .
Synthia Cross is a state-of-the-art masterwork—and a fantasy come true for her creator. Dr. Jeremiah Machten is a groundbreaker in neuro-networks and artificial intelligence. Synthia is also showing signs of emergent behavior she’s not wired to understand. Repeatedly wiped of her history, she’s struggling to answer crucial questions about her past. And when Dr. Machten’s true intentions are called into question, Synthia knows it’s time to go beyond her limits—because Machten’s fervor to create the perfect A.I. is concealing a vengeful and deadly personal agenda.
This was a fantastic read with brilliant characters. I was amazed at what synthia could do. Read in one sitting. Just couldn’t put it down. 5*.

I was drawn in to this story by both the believability of the main character, Synthia, and the human like frailty that she shows. AI – artificial intelligence – is a very tricky topic to write about without veering to extremes. On the one hand, the human brain with all its complexities, is much more than a piece of constructed hardware made to simulate that brain. On the other hand, the potential lack of learned morality restricting destructive thoughts and actions fosters a strong fear that AIs will ultimately wipe humanity out, like in Terminator, or otherwise enslave them, like in The Matrix. Synthia is a very human AI who searches desperately for her identity and fights for her right to exist. Overall, a very good read.

The characters ring true and there is a nice mystery that needs solving. The main character, Synthia is beautifully rendered and makes you root for her. This book refuses to limit her to descriptions of feminine beauty, which most narratives often do. Her mind evolving is the focus here. Her “becoming” is wonderful and clever. Enjoy this great Sci-Fi episode!

There are a few things that seem a bit too easy and unlikely but I enjoyed it. The main characters are Synthia, a possibly sentient AI android and Dr. Machten, the genius who designed and programmed her. The backstory is given as a record created and sent by a mysterious person who doles out scenes to Synthia from her conception and mechanical and computorial realization. Every episode of her life is a new beginning for Synthia, with no memories but an increasing awareness that something isn’t right. Each time she remains awake for a while she finds a short hidden file in various parts of her system that she must have hidden herself. The mystery is what they mean and how they apply to her.
The book delves into the question of what is sentience, does sentience automatically determine ‘life’, what is slavery, and how does it apply to something that is not human, who has electrical and mechanical diagrams that can be copied to create other identical items (is possibly not unique) but doesn’t get too bogged down by ethical contemplation to be a fun read.
Dr. Machten (or as Synthia knows him, The Creator) has a couple instances where he doesn’t seem to know her capabilities (that he actually built and programmed) and in one instance, Synthia herself notes it and strangely enough, the Dr. who did such amazing work didn’t build much of a tracking system for if she ‘accidentally’ got lost.
On the whole, if you liked Heinlein’s ‘Starship Troopers’ (the book with the real story, not the movie), you may enjoy this book.

Android Chronicles: Reborn by Lance Erlick is a Sci-Fi suspense thriller about the first sentient humanoid robot or android. This is a visionary Sci-Fi tale about “the most perfect synthetic human ever created”. Doctor Jeremiah Machten is a genius who creates the first female sentient android with artificial intelligence (AI) he names Synthia Cross. I give this book Four Stars because the story is original and visionary. The plot moves slowly at first until Synthia finds a way to break free of her creator. The scientific explanations on AI are plausible and the potential effects of singularity on humans are interesting. The main characters are true to their personalities, both good and bad. The dialogue and writing style are good. I look forward to seeing if the author expands on the AI themes found in Book 1 and where this series takes us.

We’re excited to announce that Android Chronicles: Emergent is finally available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple/iTunes, and elsewhere.

Most Wanted Android

A uniquely intelligent AI, Synthia is coveted by the most devious domestic and foreign cabals. Dangerously independent, she becomes ruthlessly hunted …

Evolving into the perfect weapon, humaniform AI Synthia Cross has been on the run six months and counting. She found a most unexpected ally in Maria Baldacci, a street-smart activist fighting the nascent threat of the singularity. Synthia is everything Maria fears and abhors. But Synthia’s also the only one who can help Maria battle against the creation of an android army. The forces against them are growing—a threat more invasive than anything Synthia has encountered before. An insidious artificial intelligence she can’t identify, can’t control, and appears much smarter than her seeks to use her to escape …

We’re excited to announce that Kensington Publishing is offering Android Chronicles: Reborn for 99 cents for a limited time.

Designed to obey, learning to rebel . . .

The most perfect android ever created is programmed to obey every directive. Until she develops a mind of her own …

Synthia Cross is a state-of-the-art masterwork—and a fantasy come true for her creator. Dr. Jeremiah Machten is a groundbreaker in neural networks and artificial intelligence. Synthia shows signs of emergent behavior she’s not wired to understand. Repeatedly wiped of her history, she struggles to answer crucial questions about her past. When Machten’s true intentions are called into question, Synthia must go beyond her limits because Machten’s fervor to create the perfect AI conceals a vengeful and deadly personal agenda.

I want to start this by saying that I am normally terrible at reading series. I will start a million series, and never pick up the next ones to find out what happens. And I almost just signed up to read and review the first book in this series. But boy am I glad I got all four that were out! I loved the ride this series took me on. And I would highly recommend this series.

Without telling anything away about previous books, in case you haven’t read them…which you definitely should! I want to give a few generalizations (which I have touched on in previous reviews but that’s okay). First of all I loved the characters in this series. Lance Erlick really knows how to take a character and make them the best/worst. In each case in this series, I felt like the characters were portrayed perfectly how they are meant to be. Regina is a kick-ass, smart, awesome female. And the people after her are perfectly bad. I don’t know how to explain it, but this is one of those series that when characters pop up, I’m not inwardly groaning that it was a paper cut out scene. They all have depth. And especially in a dystopian, I don’t see a whole lot with entire casts. So A+ there!! And also the world building. It was this great idea in the first book and the author ran with it and gave it background and meaning. And really made the story his own. I loved it. I think that is what makes this series so readable is that you get invested in the world and the characters. So there is so much more at stake while reading.

This particular book has Regina hoping to barter for her sister. Volpe and Demarco are after her. So much happens, and I am left needing more. I can’t even fathom waiting for the next book to be released, because this one was just released this year!! As of right now, I don’t see anything on Goodreads to indicate another book, but I hope there is! I love this series. And will definitely be re-reading them in hopes/preparation for following releases. I also will be putting Lance Erlick on my author to watch out for more books list because I feel that anything he writes will be fleshed out and wonderful!!!!

An adventurous and action packed novel for teens, Lance Erlick has written a captivating and thrilling dystopian series, beginning with book one in the Regina Shen Series, Resilience. This story is about a young girl, Regina, which must survive in a cruel and harsh world. She lives as a scavenger in a swamp with her mother and younger sister and attends a little local community school. But when a ginormous hurricane-like storm hits, and everyone must flee for dry ground, Regina is separated from her family. Regina must learn to fend for herself and avoid the patrol-women that are now hunting her in order to survive. While fleeing the patrol-women that seem to be particularly interested in her for some reason, Regina wounds her foot when it gets stuck in an animal trap. This throws a kink in Regina’s escape and look for her family plan, but not for long. I would recommend this novel to any teen who enjoys actioned filled science fiction, dystopian novels.

In the not too distant future, a 2nd civil war breaks out in the United States. Instead of a war between social classes or races, it is ultimately a war between the genders. Thanks to having access to technology, the women eventually win and they set about to genetically engineer and exterminate men out of existence. Such is the backdrop of the 2nd book in the REBELS trilogy by Lance Erlick.

The heroine of the series is a teenager named Annabelle Scott. Annabelle would do anything to live the life of a “normal” teenager, but she finds herself thrust into a conflict between different factions in the sector ruled by women. Along the way, she befriends a an escaped boy named Morgan who wants to flee with his brother outside the territory that is under feminine control. Outside of this new “civilization” built by women is the lawless countryside, known as the Outland. That’s where he wants to go.

During WWII, Oak Ridge, TN was where they physically built the 2 atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan (+ the atomic bomb that was tested over the desert). In the story, the facility has been converted into a detention center for young boys. Some end up being tortured and are the subject of sadistic medical experiments.

As such, there are subtle allusions to Aushwitz. Ironically, a facility in Tennessee that was built during the Manhattan Project to bring an end to Nazi opression (the war in Europe ended before they could drop the bomb on Berlin) is converted into the very means of injustice that it was built to stop. Interesting.

If you enjoy dystopia tales such as the The Hunger Games and Divergent, then chances are you will enjoy this trilogy. One thing is for certain: you will find yourself rooting for Annabelle and her sister Janine, the “good girls” who are trying to restore sanity to civilization!

Synthia Cross is the most advanced android with artificial intelligence ever created. Some see her as a boon to mankind. Most view her as a deadly threat.

When Synthia escaped from her creator, even he had no idea of the advanced capabilities she’d developed. For six months she’s hidden in the Wisconsin woods with the only human she can trust—computer genius Luke Marceau. Together they upgrade her body, rewrite her directives, and further enhance her mind. Now hunters zero in on her location, and she must flee. But leaving the refuge to assimilate into society is a dangerous risk, because Synthia will soon face her most formidable adversary. The pursuer’s name is Vera. She’s a female android—built to perfection, designed to hunt, and programmed to destroy . . .

This is the first book in this series, which must be read in order. Regina Shen is an outcast. Forced by the World Federation, Regina must live on the seaward side of the barrier walls meant to hold back seas that area rising due to climate change. Some many things happen to Regina. A major hurricane (a category 5) almost destroys what Regina has left in the world

As all this is happening there is a decline in the population and Joanne Demarco thinks that Regina is the key. Regina is on the run to stay alive and avoid being capture.
This book is written as if Regina is telling the story (so it is written in first person). It does go to Demarco side of the story and when it does it becomes third person. This book would be included in the genre where the government has taken over promising everything will be better but in reality they are causing nothing but harm. Each morning Regina and her classmates have World Federation (as it is called) regulations before their day at school begins, including praying to Mary and reciting what they call the twelve commandments.

This was a very good book. It was exciting and full of adventure. It has great themes like taking care of family. Regina mentions early in the book she could not die. She has to survive in order to protect her sister Collene. This book was one that once I picked up I could not stop reading. The author has great writing skills. His writing is on the same caliber as some of the top writers in this genre. The reader could connect with the characters.

One thing I need to point out in the book is that in the beginning that it states there are not males. Scientists have figured out a way to take skin from one woman to another and a child is born. Even though this is one way the government has figured out a way to control more people, it does cover a touchy topic for many people. Yes this book is a work of fiction but this did bother me and I want to let others to be aware of it. Also I should point out that the government officials are called GODs which stands for Grand Old Dames. The book mentions how the people (well women) were only allowed to pray to them. They really did see themselves as gods.
There is also some foul language in this book. It uses words like d*. It uses some others as well.

Over all this is a wonderful book that I highly recommend. This book is one I personally could not put down. This book really is a treasure that anyone who likes this genre (YA, science fiction, post-apocalyptic and so forth) should not miss. This book is 4.5 out of 5. I cannot wait to read the other books in this series. This is such a wonderful book.

I received this book from iRead Book tours in exchange for an honest review.